Whether cooked on a grill or over a campfire, food cooked outdoors just always seems to taste better than food cooked indoors. It could be the outdoor air, cooking procedures, or a hundred other variables, but one's taste buds just seem to explode. Many people who cook outdoors as part of a camping trip use a grill, which must be brought along for the trip including fuel, legs, cooking surfaces, and the like. Even those who cook on a campfire must bring a complicated stand with multiple legs that seem to collapse, and are never long enough to place food high above a fire. Another option is a complicated tripod arrangement which is difficult to set up, and then can only be used with a kettle. All of these solutions are either complicated, difficult to store, hard to transport, and/or require many solutions depending on the type of food being cooked. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which virtually any type of food can be cooked over a campfire without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the adjustable grilling platform fulfills this need.
The apparatus is used to assist with cooking over an open fire. There are two vertical supports facilitating slidable engagement with a grated cooking surface. The cooking surface is held in position by two (2) cables that are routed around pulleys disposed at a top of the apparatus. These cables then terminate at a hoist assembly, which enables selective hoisting and lowering of the cooking surface. The slidable engagement of the cooking surface with the vertical supports also provides for locking pins to hold the cooking surface at a desired height. An alternative embodiment provides for a fire box in which a fire may be constructed and contained.
Prior art in this field consists of simple posts that have cooking grates attached thereto. Some of these posts have pivoting arms connecting the cooking grate. Other prior art posts include pivoting arms with clamping apparatuses to attach pans, plates, or grates. Some prior art devices are more elaborate and consist of stands with height adjustable cooking surfaces, but these cooking surfaces are not stabilized from swinging and swaying, as is the cooking surface of the present invention. There are other prior art devices that have stabilized adjustable cooking surfaces, but these are height adjustable by telescoping support legs. With these telescoping legs, it proves difficult to adjust the cooking surface when food is placed thereupon and when there is a fire beneath the device. Furthermore, this type of adjustment means impedes the ability to perform large scale cooking because it does not lend itself to easy height adjustment with heavy items.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a stable and sturdy cooking surface for cooking foods over an open fire.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a height adjustment mechanism for the cooking surface to accommodate fires of variable height and differing cooking temperatures dictated by certain cooking recipes.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a cooking surface with a stand that is modular and easily disassembled for easy transport and set up
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a cooking surface that is stabilized such that it neither swings when bumped nor sways in the wind.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a cooking surface that is adjustable without disrupting the food placed thereupon, thereby evenly and smoothly hoisting and lowering the cooking surface.
It is a further objective of the present invention to enable hoisting and lowering the cooking surface with a fire occurring beneath the device and while the food is being cooked.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a height adjustable cooking surface that facilitates heavy duty cooking of large meals while not detracting from portability and ease of use.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a fire box as a means to construct and contain an open fire, if desired.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a plurality of skewers to enable broiling of meat impaled thereupon.